Eight netball Clubs and Associations from across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia have received more than $50,000 in grants through Round 1 of the Confident Girls Foundation Bushfire Recovery Grants initiative.
Netball Australia’s official charity, the Confident Girls Foundation, established the Bushfire Relief Appeal in March to support Associations and Clubs within the netball community that were affected by devastating bushfires that swept the country this summer. In response to this call for donations, the netball community rallied together and raised more than $365,000.
This first round of grants will support Clubs and Associations to recover, providing funds to help rebuild infrastructure, purchase equipment, cover the cost of registrations and fees, hold clinics and special community events and supply uniforms, among many other initiatives.
The Confident Girls Foundation is pleased to announce the following clubs and associations as recipients of the first round of grants (a maximum grant of $10,000 per organisation was available):
- Broulee Moruya Football Netball Club (NSW) - $2,705
- Bruthen Netball Association (VIC) - $10,000
- Corryong Demons Football Netball Club (VIC) - $10,000
- Eurobodalla Netball Association (NSW) - $5,000
- Kangaroo Island Netball Association (SA) - $10,000
- Sapphire Coast Netball Association (NSW) - $2,540
- Warragul Football & Netball Club (VIC) - $7,260
- Western Districts Memorial Community Sports Club (SA) - $10,000
Confident Girls Foundation CEO Nadine Cohen said the devastation that these organisations experienced is incredibly hard to comprehend.
“On Kangaroo Island, the fire destroyed the Western Districts Memorial Community Sports Club clubhouse which included the netball room, netball change rooms and all records and memorabilia. The club lost everything, so hopefully this grant will go some way to helping the community recover. After all sport, and in particular netball, is the lifeblood of our communities and we will continue to work closely with the netball community to support them every way we can going forward,” she said.
“The grants program was made possible due to the extraordinary volume of donations from the Australian community and supporters including the Origin Australian Diamonds and Suncorp Super Netball players, coaches and teams, along with corporate partners Suncorp, HCF, Origin Energy, Woolworths, Nissan, Accor, Telstra and the Nine Network."
An Advisory Committee with representatives from Netball Australia, the netball community and the Confident Girls Foundation assessed and moderated all applications and the Foundation Board approved the Round 1 grants.
The Confident Girls Foundation uses netball as a vehicle for change to help address emotional, social and physical wellbeing. Netball is a sport by women, for women and we're proud to engage with the netball community to improve the lives of women and girls.
Donations can still be made at donate.netball.com.au and applications for Round 2 of the Confident Girls Foundation Bushfire Recovery grants will open on Monday 22 June. More information on this can be found on the Confident Girls Foundation website.
Bruthen Netball Association
Granted: $10,000
Fires began around Bruthen in November 2019 and didn't stop until February 2020. This caused high levels of evacuations, people lost homes and the impact to the communities mental health is ongoing. In order to support the netball community back on its feet, this grant will go towards upgrading and re-surfacing the Bruthen netball court. To ensure everyone can play netball safely.
Corryong Demons Football Netball Club
Granted: $10,000
Bushfires raced through Corryong on the 31st December 2019 aand left a trail of destruction for farming families. As a small community, many of the netball club members also volunteer for Country Fire Authority and lost income due to their roles. With their grant Corryong will run a netball clinic for their club, be able to waive netball registration fees for players and umpires and purchase new netball uniforms.
Warragul Football & Netball Club Inc
Granted: $7,260
The town endured a sustainied state of 'Emergency Warning' and 'Watch and Act' alerts, which strained the community, as well as having devastating health consequences from smoke inhalation. This grant will support the running of 12 female-oriented educational seminars by not-for-profit health promotion organisation, Sport and Life Training (SALT). The seminars will be co-designed to nurture the transition from protection mode to self-care mode.
